Rural mail-box.



.No. 815,585. PATENTED MAR.20,1906.-

} c. r. FARRA-R} RURAL MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION rinzn NOV. 4,1905.

Wlf/VE QES: INVENTOR.

' A TOR/V5145.

' siding at Howell, in the county of Livingston UNITED- STATES PATENTonnron CHARLES F. FARRAR, OF HOWELL, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T EBEN L.

HARRINGTON, OF GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK, AND JULIA A. FARRAR,

OF HOWELL, MICHIGAN.

RURAL MAIL-BOX.-

iatented March 20, 1906,

- Application filed November 4, 1905. Serial No. 285,807.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. FARRAR, a citizen of the United Statesof America, re-

and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Rural Mail- Boxes, of which the following is a specification,reference being: had therein to the ac.

. companying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in v mail-boxes for ruralmail-routes; and its ob.

ject isto provide a suitable box .for the purpose having an indicatorwhich will be automatically operated by the placing of mail in the boxor ts removal therefrom to indicate such fact and to provide a verysimple construction which is cheap to manufacture and not liable to getout of order, .all as hereinaf ter more fully described, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of a device embodying the invention, and Fig. 2 an enlargedlongitudinal vertical section of the same with the cover raised. 7 in aI As shown in the drawings, 1 represents a rectangular receptacle or boxwhich may be made of any suitable material and in any desired size orform, and 2 is a cover or top hinged at one side to said box andpreferably inclined and provided with a flange or skirt extendingdownwardly over the edge of the box to effectually shed and exclude therain. In one end of the box is an opening 8 through which the mail isplaced in the box, and. this opening is closed by a door 4, hingedwithin the opening at its Lipper edge to swing inward its lower edge, sothat it will close by gravity, a flange 5 being provided on its loweredge to engage the inner surface of the box and prevent the door fromswinging outward through the opening. v

"Pivoted at 6 mtermediate its ends upon any suitable support within thebox near the rear wall thereof and adjacent to the end provided with thedoor isa rod 7, and on the long end 8 of this rod is an indicator 9,formed of sheet metal 'and projecting through a slot in the bottom ofthe box. Above the short end 10 ofjthe rod and adjacent to the door aweighted pendant or latch 11 is pivoted at 12 to the rear wall of thebox to normally hang arged to form a weight at by gravity verticallydownward in engagement with said short end of the rod and is of such alength that when so engaged said short end will be held downward and thelong drop by the weight of its long end and attached indicator, whichwill be projected some distance through the slot in the bottom of thebox to indicate that there is mail in the box. A stop-pin 13 is providedonthe rear wall of the box to engage the upwardly-extending end of thelatch above its pivot and prevent the latch from swinging downwardtoward the door beyond-its vertical position.

Attached to the long end8 of the rod 7 near its pivot 6is a cord orflexible wire 14, and the opposite end of said end is attached to thecover 2 a short distance outward from its hinge-line, so that when thecover is lifted and swung backwardon its hinges it will pull on the,cord, thus rocking the rodon its pivot .and raising the indicator.

thus rocked by the cover, its short end is low ered, thus permitting thelatch to swing downward by gravity from the position'shown,

in dotted lines in Fig.2 ,into which it was swung by the insertionofmail, to engage said short end of the rod and hold the indicator raisedor retracted. I j

With this construction the indicator is automatically displayed when themail is placed in the box and is automatically retracted to indicatethat the box is empty when the mail is removed, and, if desired, a lockmay be used on the box to prevent the removal of mail, and it will benecessary to unlock it only when there is mail to remove.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is. j

1.- The combination with a mail-box, of a movable cover for said' box, adoor in said box for the insertion of mail, an indicator adapted to hereleased by the movementjof the door to permit the indicator to move toits display position, and means connecting When the rod is i roo thecover and indicator to move the indicator from its display position whenthe cover is moved.

2. The combination with a mail-box, of a a slot, an indicator withinsaid box adapted to be projected through the slot, a door in said boxadapted when opened to release the indicator to permit the same to beprojected, a cover hinged to the box, and means within the boxconnecting the cover and indicator to retract the indicator when thecover is-raised.

5. The combination with a mail-box, of a gravity indicator pivotedintermediate its ends, a door in said box, and a gravity-latch adaptedto engage the indicator at one side of its pivot to hold the same in itsraised position, and adapted to be engaged and moved by said door torelease the-indicator.

6. The combination with a mail-box, of a cover hinged to said box, a rodpivoted intermediate'its ends, an indicator carried by said rod atits-opposite" end, a gravity-latch to engage the indicator at one sideof its pivot and hold the same raised, a door to close an opening in thebox adapted to engage and operate the latch, and means attached at oneend to the indicator at the opposite side of its pivot and at itsopposite end to the cover to raise the indicator when the cover islifted.

7. The combination of a mail-box having a slot, a cover hinged to thebox, a rod pivoted intermediate its ends within the box, an indicator onone end of said rod adapted to project through the slot in the box,means attached at one end to the rod between the indicator and the pivotof the rod and at its opposite end to the cover, a door to close anopening in the box, a gravity-latch pivoted to the wall of the boxadjacent to said door to engage the end of the rod at the opposite sideof its pivot and adapted to be engaged by said door when the same isopened.

8. The combination of a 1n ail-box having a slot in its bottom and anopening in one end, a cover hinged to said box, a rod pivotedintermediate its ends within the box and forming a long end at one sideof its pivot and a short end at the opposite side, an indicator on thelong'end of said rod to project through said slot, a cord secured at oneend to the rod between its pivot and the indicator, a door operating bygravity to close said opening in the end of the box, and a gravity-latchpivoted to the wall of the box ad acent to said door to be engaged andturned thereby and to engage the short end of the rod and hold theindicator raised.

In testimony whereof I a'liix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

CHARLES F. FARRAR.

Witnesses:

EBEN L. HARRINGTON, OTTO F. BARTHEL.

